Grow this Mexican Herb for Traditional Bean Dishes

Homemade refried beans are easy, but the traditional Mexican version calls for the herb epazote, which can be hard to find outside of specialty food markets. If you’re a gardener, one solution is to grow your own. A distant cousin to spinach and Swiss chard, epazote has a distinctly strong odor that makes it a good choice to repel pests in the garden. Both its flavor and aroma mellow with cooking, but even so, a little goes a long way. Add just 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh epazote to a pound of dried beans while they are simmering. Considered a medicinal herb, epazote is also thought to have gas-reducing properties. You can find epazote seeds through online seed catalogs.